(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the formation of packages and particularly to the supply of blanks, comprised of cardboard or the like for example, to apparatus which fold such blanks into packages. More specifically, this invention is directed to apparatus for the automatic filling of a magazine which receives a stack of cardboard blanks, the blanks being individually extracted from the bottom of the magazine for use in packaging machine, and especially to apparatus for ensuring the continuous supply of package blanks to a cigarette packaging line. Accordingly, the general objects of the present invention are to provide novel and improved methods and apparatus of such character.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
It is well known in the packaging industry to supply, from vertically oriented magazines, cardboard blanks which are folded around articles to be packaged. The cardboard blanks are customarily loaded, in the form of a stack of blanks of predetermined size, into the magazine and are subsequently individually extracted from the bottom of the magazine for use. The filling of the magazines has previously typically been performed manually by extracting a stack of cardboard blanks from a corresponding stock and inserting the stack into the magazine. Since the packaging speeds may be very high, particularly in the cigarette industry, and because there is a practical limit to the vertical size of a magazine, very frequent refilling of the magazines has been necessary in the prior art. The need for frequent refilling imposes a considerable workload on the attendant who, typically, also has other duties to perform with respect to the packaging operation. Accordingly, magazines from which package blanks are extracted often become empty with the result that the entire packaging line comes to a standstill.
German Patent No. 2,423,885 discloses a prior art attempt to solve the above-discussed problem by accomplishing the automatic filling of a magazine with blanks. In the apparatus of this patent, respective stacks of cardboard blanks are guided horizontally and vertically by means of corresponding members which require complicated and mutually coordinated actuating mechanisms. The apparatus of German Patent 2,423,885 is, due to its complexity, relatively expensive and, among other disadvantages, occupies a large amount of space.